Corpse Bride here I come…

Halloween is approaching and even though we Aussies don’t traditionally celebrate, this yeah my cousins and I are having a do! A BIG do… involving costumes… oh how I love to “costume party”

I have had this beautiful vintage wedding dress, a $10 opportunity shop bargain, hanging in my cupboard for many many months.

I haven’t done anything with it yet because it is too nice to destroy… or maybe I was just waiting for the right purpose for the repurposing.

Until now… I will be attending the Halloween Costume Party as a Corpse Bride and this is going to be my dress… although I don’t think it will really look much like the original gown. The creative juices are flowing and I am preparing to “let go of the preciousness” of this item and create something amazing…

Another Little Step

Today I put the very first item in my Etsy Shop... A beautiful bead and wire necklace... I love the autum colours, they make me feel renewed and alive.

I have had it sitting here waiting for months to go to it's new home... if you are interested check out my store @ http://www.etsy.com/shop/thekreationofkate

Kate's Britches and Stitches

A few days ago I posted this statement "I am going to start journalling my dreams, hopes and creative ideas, then putting plans into place to make them happen."

So I have taken a big, little step towards my goal. I have created a facebook page... as this is my main method of communicating with people outside my immediate family and friends and an awesome way to get other people involved in promoting my new business venture.

Kate's Britches and Stitches.... specialises in custom made costumes and, repairs and alterations to clothing. Attached to this will be a small scale (to begin with) costume hire business.

Check me out and my business at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hervey-Bay-Australia/Kates-Britches-and-Stitches/138699356172267?v=wall

Raising Kids with ADD: All About Me

Raising Kids with ADD: All About Me: "I've done a few blogs here and there before. I haven't had much luck in staying on track with them. It's a weakness of mine...I start projects and never finish them..."

After a day of meltdowns I was searching for ADHD groups on Facebook to ease my mind a little.... please tell my children aren't the only ones who scream and tantrum with kicking and hitting for 45 minutes because they don't like the dinner that was served up to them... I stumbled on this blog.

Since my boys were unofically diagnosed with ADHD and medicated i have done a little research and I'm begining to wonder about myself! After all, alll my family tells me that Ethan, my 7 yr old, is just like me. I remember sitting in class staring out the window in to space cause I couldn't focus on any one thing in the classroom, all the noise and things happening, what do you focus on? I remember my mum asking me to clean my room and then coming back 2 hours later to find me sitting in the same spot doing nothing because I couldn't figure out what to do first... so many things...

I am interested to see how this Muma ADD goes...

My Beautiful Butterflies

The thing about butterflies is that they move quickly, stay for short times and are so very easily damaged. Just like children....

My Beautiful Butterflies are my three children. Ethan is 7, Chloe is 4, and Alistair is 9. I love them all, even when I hate them :) It is a hard road single parenting 3 children, especially when 2 of them have ADHD and sensory issues. I feel so very blessed that I have them, but some days I want to run away and hide.

This is to remind me how precious they are.

My little peice of Hyperactivity

My two sons have just been diagnosed with ADHD... yay... See you nasty woman at Bunnings and your "Oh My God, where is that kids parents!" as I was standing right next to you watching him swing off the side of the slippery slide thinking, "thankfully it's not the curtain rod again!" It is not that I am a bad mother, my children just have no ability to think before they act!

My Boys...

When my 7 year old son is having a good day, he is the most caring and creative soul you will ever meet... he loves to sew on the sewing machine and I am lucky enough to have a spare (old one) in good working order for him to use. He sews all kids of stuff but really loves to make pillows and blankets for his toys and little back packs. One day last year, as a 6 yr old, he used some scrapbooking paper offcuts and some really nice heavy yellow recycled paper to make a "fire truck" for his dad. Now when I say fire truck I mean, a 3 inch long 1 inch high paper truck complete with windows, wheels and a ladder. Oh I wish I had taken a picture before he took it away, because it was AMAZING and it looked just like a fire truck! I was so proud.

However most days have been bad lately, especially when he had to stop taking his Ritalin for a full week before seeing the paediatrician. Without the meds, he will poke holes in the wall, swing from the curtain rods, run around the house kicking things (particularly his brother and me if i try to stop him), have 2 hour tantrums every night, won't listen to me (good or bad), can't follow directions, hoards anything and everything (including gravel rocks and coke can tabs), can't focus at school and gets in trouble. As a parent it is so devastating to see your child behave in a way that is not truely who he is... to see him cry because he knows what he should be doing but he just cant control his impulses... to see that sadness in his eyes was heart breaking.

Anyway we are on medication now, one to help them sleep (Melatonin) and one to control their ADHD (one is taking Ritalin and the other Strattera) and after about 4 day all I can say is we are having less tantrums and more smiles... yay. It is not easy, but it is easier and to see my big boy (9, who also has an anxiety disorder) smile when he gets home from school is worth every once of energy spent to get to this point :)

From this point forward all I am hoping that I'll get more good days, more smiles and so much more creativity....

New Direction

Just got a phone message... " Hi Kate, I was just calling to tell you that Krista tried her dress on at work today, and it was perfect... she is so happy with it"

JOY... all I did was take in the back/waist seams so that her beautiful dress would hug her tiny waist, but it gives me so much pleasure and a sense of purpose to see how much people appreciate my ablitly to sew. I love Sewing... it gives me an escape from my dreary everyday life... having two sons with ADHD and a 4 yr old who thrive on routine is hard for my creative innerself! But, when I am sewing everything melts away and I feel on top of the world... my creativity flows freely and I have no need to second guess myself.

I have been second guessing myself too much of late and I am going to STOP right now.... and I am going to start journalling my dreams, hopes and creative ideas, then putting plans into place to make them happen. No more running away or hiding from them!

Opportunity Knocks

I have just been working on getting something (business wise) happening based around my love of sewing and dressing up. However my lack of confidence in my abilities and creativeness, and my need to put myself down have become somewhat of a hinderance.... thankfully I have been offered an awesome opportunity by a local photographer Teegan Fowler, from Fowler Photography in Hervey Bay.

The offer... to design and make a costumes for an up coming series of photo shoots, based around a "Vintage Circus" theme. I have also asked to model in the shoot as well. In return for creating the unique costumes and modelling for her, I will have copies of the photos taken of me and anyone else wearing MY costumes... some awesome advertising photos. Nice deal

I'm so excited I can't wait to get started. Here are some examples of the style we are going for...

I'd like to have a go at this type of thing and some clowns would be fun too....

Sharing the Creativitiy

Sewing Vs Face and Body Art.

While my two boys were away I spent the week with my beautiful daughter at my brother and sister-in-law. Melanie Hughes and I are both creative people, just with different outlets. While I love to create with fabric, she loves to create with paint. So we had a few little crafty session, where I got lesson on the basics of face and body art and got to experiment with her paints, she painted my face and then I sewed her a fairy dress... nice deal for both of us.

Melanie, a budding face and body artist working in the Brisbane area (check her out at http://www.embellishfaceandbodyart.com/) asked me to make her a fairy costume similar to the ones I made for the Maryborough Pub Fest 2010. Melanie chose all the fabrics and I put it together. We were both very impressed with the end result... she makes a great fairy.

Fairy Melanie

My first ever attempt atpainting a full face... Pink Tiger Chloe Louise.This was kinda cool, Chloe has NEVER let anyone paint her face before, but she let me do it this time, and I was pretty inpressed with the result. I'm Awesome :) and best of all Chloe just loved it... RAR!

Pink Tiger Chloe Louise

While I was impressed with my face painting attempt I think several years of practice showed on my face when Melanie was finished with me. We had to wait till all the munchkins were in bed sleeping soundly, then she got to work. I was sad that I only got to wear it for about an hour, because it was so late by the time we'd finished playing with the camera I was exhausted.

Sarah's Thirty and Flirty Saloon Girl Party

Last night was the night! Finally... after spending a bit of time turning my Vintage Prom Dress into a Saloon Girl Costume, and a few months looking at it in anticipation, I was finally able to doll up and head out. I spent the day with rags in my hair to get authentic curls, which my boys though was pretty odd... but Chloe asured me "your bows look pretty mummy".

Sarah and I in our costumes

My cousins Jessie and Zoey also attened the party wearing costumes mady by my aunty Rona... there is a strong creative sewing gene in my family, my mum just missed it I think. As you can see in this photos the three of us had matching bloomers to keep our privates private... these were so simple to make. We each got a pair of mens boxers, some lace and elastic. I simply gathered the leg with elastic and sewed the lace on the bottom... they were very effective.

Beautiful Frazer Island

My son Alistair is in grade four and one of the highlights of the year is a trip to Frazer Island. I had the pleasure of joining him on the excursion. It has been about 24 years since I've had the opportunity to venture to the eastern side of the island and I was pleased to see it is still as beautiful as I remember it.

Vintage Prom Dress to Sexy Saloon Girl Costume

My beautiful friend Sarah is turning 30 in June and to celebrate she is having a themed party-Saloon Girls and Barman. Which is wonderful because we both love to dress up. I was very excited and imediately (literally as soon as she left my home after the conversation) I hit the opportunity shops.

In the first opportunity shop I went to I found this very interesting purple and aqua blue dress. Wow what a find and it only cost me $7 and with a little adjustment it could be the perfect costume for the party.

So how did I transform my Vintage Prom Dress to a Sexy Saloon Girl Costume?

Step 1: I appear to be a little more 'busty' than the dresses original owner. So I removed the zipper from the bodice section and replaced it with eyelets and a ribbon.

Step 2: I want to skirt to be longer at the back and much shorter at the front. I carefully removed the silk trim from the hem of the skirt, it might come in usefull for something else. Then I cut a semi-circle from the front of the skirt and sewed it onto the back hem.

Step 3: I want the bottom hem to match the top. Thankfully the silk trim was doubled over so i was able to cut it in half length ways, sew the ends together and it gathered just enough to look like it was made that way originally.

Step 4: My dress needs a bustle. Layers and layers of tulle sewn under the rear section of the skirt. This fulls out the rear section and leaves the front sitting flat... beautiful.

Step 5: Now I have this great dress, but it needs something to cover the zipper area on the back skirt. Luckily the dress came with a sash which I was able to use, with the combination of some coordinating fabric, to make a bow and train.

I am very Impressed with my final product and cannot wait to wear it on the night!

Repurposing Mateials... loving it

Following from the amazing success of the Wedding Dress remodelling, and the creativity stirred up for my amazing experiences at the Woodford Folk festival I have been searching for craft projects that I can do using repurposed materials. I found some amazing and beautiful tutorials at Tea Rose Home and decided to give one a try.
I made this gorgeous Jean Corsage from an old denim skirt that I got from the op-shop a few years ago to patch a pair of jeans. I also had the opportunity to repurpose one of the many beautiful buttons I have collected over the past few years. I have developed a bit of a button “thing”. I find them interesting and I think they look great in their jars on the shelves in my bed room… many different colours, shapes, sizes and textures. I was a very quick and easy project to complete, but I am so very impressed with it. I still need to find the brooch back so it can easily be pinned on…they are somewhere in my stash of craft thingies. That is tomorrow’s task!
My two youngest children have also developed an interest in my buttons… so while I was making my Jean Corsage they sat on the floor playing with two of the button jars. Ethan who is 7 and very creative made me a bracelet… it was beautiful and I thought “Wow, I would actually wear this regularly”, only it is made using a piece of pink hollow plastic tubing… so I got out the tiger wire and some pearl beads left over form another project and put them on, added a clasp so it would be small enough to be comfortable and here it is… Ethan is very proud that I re-made it and will wear it everyday.

My Clever Daughter

My beautiful 3 year old daughter Chloe is somewhat an artist. She really loved to draw and colour with textas. She has completed artworks on the blinds, walls, carpet, her desk.... but most often the canvas is her own body. Future Tattoo Artist or Body Painter perhaps?

Most reciently I was reward with a wonderful surprise, she has developed her 'signature'. I'm such a proud mummy......

It is just a shame that the wonderful autograph was on her bed sheets! Oh well... what do you do? I took a picture of it and washed the sheets. They are good as new... although I cannot soy the same for the carpet and blinds.

Thankfully our landlord is also a proud grandmother.

Remodelling my Wedding Dress

Upon my return from the Woodford Folk festival I was feeling very ready to let go of a lot of “things”. I had been contemplating my beautiful wedding dress for over 12 months. Should I sell it? No I wouldn’t really get that much for it and it is too pretty just to throw away, but seriously I’ll never wear it again. Should I dye it? Oh but what if I wreck it?

Earlier this year photographer friend, Nicky Jackson, wanted to do a “trash it” photo shoot of someone in a wedding gown… hmm wet and dirty in a $1200 wedding dress. This was the first step in “letting go of the preciousness” as Nic Hohn would say… So I went to the beach, sat in the water, sand, mud and rocks and had an absolute ball. I felt very liberated, not to mention incredibly beautiful and fulfilled. Note: I was married in 1999 and divorced in 2002, so it really is time to let go.

Decision…. To cut it short and dye it… um purple, yeah that sounds good, purple! So I got out the tape measure and cut 25 inches off of all three layers of the skirt and used the overlocker to create a rolled hem. Nice… but it was still white, so I grabbed the biggest saucepan I could find filled it with water and added the iDye Poly (violet) and boiled it for an hour… stirring and praying that it wouldn’t wreck the boning or melt any of the fabric…

I washed it out and to my delight… it looked awesome. I was particularly interested in the brocade fabric of the bodice. The embrodiary was originally the same colour as the satin background and it was edged with a gold tread and I was concerened that it wouldn't stand out. As you can see from the picture I was way off... I am going to asume that the embroidery was 100% cotton thread and the rest of the dress was made from non-natural materials as the dye I used states to use a differt type for natural fabrics... that being said I am very pleased with the results and am looking forward to having a "special occasion" to wear it to.

But not seeing a "special occasion" in the near future I decided just to test it out at the local pub... I felt amazing and got many compliments... overall a very worthwhile project and one that I am very proud of!

I am also impressed that after 10 years and 3 children, it actually fits me better now than it did when I got married.

Three Lots of Three

While I was at the Woodford Folk Festival I had the pleasure of attending a Multi-layered Images workshop with Sara Rumsey. The emphasis of the workshop was on drypoint etching and some relief printing techniques.
We etched our designs into heavy cardboard, inked them and ran them through a press. I was very pleased with how my flowers came out but I think that my three beautiful children were with me in spirit.

Woodford Folk Festival

I have just returned from The Woodford Folk Festival...and I truely feel like a new person. What an amazing and life changing experience it was.

I have been to the Festival twice, have enjoyed it each time but then I had someone to hide behind. This time I attended the festival ALONE...this is the first time I have ever attempted to do anything ALONE. So it was not an easy decision to make but one I am so glad that I made.

Being alone in a crowd of thousands was an interesting experience...

Angie Heart with guest Taasha Coates from The Audreys

Toni Childs singing "You are Beautiful"

The Children's Festival area was decorated with massive flowers...

Closing Ceremony Light Show

The Sun rising on 2010.... beautiful way to start the year